Posts

Why I Am Running for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction

Image
My name is Gerard Davis. I am a retired appointed public administrator and a Green candidate for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. I am running because of accusations of fraud, waste, and abuse in the Empowerment Scholarship Account program and concern for the educational needs for children with developmental disabilities and children in the foster care system. I began my career in public service as an intern at the Arizona Department of Education. I had the privilege of helping Arizona families apply for the Empowerment Scholarship Account program. I was skeptical at first, but after talking with parents, I got a better understanding of the importance of the program for Arizona children. After graduating from Arizona State University, I was hired as a case manager with the Arizona Department of Child Safety. As a case manager, I was responsible for the wellbeing of children in Arizona's foster care system. Because of instability faced by foster children, th...
Post a Comment
Read more

On General Principle, by Gerard Davis

Image
• I believe people working 40 hours a week should not live in poverty. • Healthcare should be available for all, not a luxury for the rich. • Wall Street gangsters should go to prison when they steal. • There should not be subsidies for profitable corporations. • Companies should not be permitted to trash the earth for profit. • No one, especially veterans, should be homeless. • Everyone should have equal access to equal education. • Equal rights and equal pay should be the benchmark for all Americans. • Politicians should not dictate medical decisions for any person. • No child should fear being shot at school. • Lobbyists should not be allowed to bribe our representatives. • CEO'S should not receive 3,000 times the pay of their workers.
Post a Comment
Read more

Future Focus and Sustainability

Image
Our actions and policies should be motivated by long-term goals. We seek to protect valuable natural resources, safely disposing of or 'unmaking' all waste we create, while developing a sustainable economics that does not depend on continual expansion for survival. We must counterbalance the drive for short-term profits by assuring that economic development, new technologies, and fiscal policies are responsible to future generations who will inherit the results of our actions. We must make the quality of all lives, rather than open-ended economic growth, the focus of future thinking and policy.
Post a Comment
Read more

Personal and Global Responsibility.

Image
We encourage individuals to act to improve their personal wellbeing and, at the same time, to enhance ecological balance and social harmony. We seek to join with people and organizations around the world to foster peace, economic justice, and the health of the planet.
Post a Comment
Read more

Respect for Diversity

Image
We believe it is important to value cultural, ethnic, racial, sexual, religious and spiritual diversity, and to promote the development of respectful relationships across the human spectrum. We believe that the many diverse elements of society should be reflected in our organizations and decision-making bodies, and we support the leadership of people who have been traditionally closed out of leadership roles. We encourage respect for all life forms, and increased attention to the preservation of biodiversity.
Post a Comment
Read more

Feminism and Gender Equity

Image
We have inherited a social system based on male domination of politics and economics. We call for the replacement of the cultural ethics of domination and control with cooperative ways of interacting that respect differences of opinion and gender. Human values such as gender equity, interpersonal responsibility, and honesty must be developed with moral conscience. We recognize that the processes for determining our decisions and actions are just as important as achieving the outcomes we want.
Post a Comment
Read more

Community-Based Economics.

Image
We support redesigning our work structures to encourage employee ownership and workplace democracy. We support developing new economic activities and institutions that allow us to use technology in ways that are humane, freeing, ecological, and responsive and accountable to communities. We support establishing a form of basic economic security open to all. We call for moving beyond the narrow 'job ethic' to new definitions of 'work,' 'jobs' and 'income' in a cooperative and democratic economy. We support restructuring our patterns of income distribution to reflect the wealth created by those outside the formal monetary economy – those who take responsibility for parenting, housekeeping, home gardens, community volunteer work, and the like. We support restricting the size and concentrated power of corporations without discouraging superior efficiency or technological innovation.
Post a Comment
Read more